May the light bulb RIP

Argh! I switched on the bathroom light today and got nothing but sparks before it died on me. Luckily J managed to mount his torchlight on the towel bar or I would have to bathe in absolute darkness.

Salmon and garlic mashed potato

Very tasty dinner prepared by J.

Philip Island day trip

Anyone who's close to me will know that I'm absolutely batty about penguins. I once watched a documentary about Antarctica on TV with J and ended up squealing "cute cute!" and grabbing J's hand in the most painful way possible whenever a penguin appeared on the screen. This was after our visit to Philip Island of course. If it was before, I don't think J would have wanted to go with me.

First stop: Warrook Cattle Farm

Our first stop was at Warrook Cattle Farm, where we saw kangaroos and a very old and scruffy-looking wombat (yes, singular). It was rather disappointing as the area opened to visitors was small and limited. On a brighter note, there was a small kangaroo which was really really really cute. The poor thing was too cute for its own good and had to escape from well-meaning visitors who kept shoving food in its face.

Lovely wild flowers and a busy bee.

Next stop: Koala Conservation Centre

Our next stop was the Koala Conservation Centre. Because koalas have become synonymous with Australia, no tourist worth his salt would visit Australia without getting a picture of a koala (I suspect most of them end up going to the gift shops for postcards). Unfortunately, koalas have a very low metabolic rate and are asleep most of the time. In any case, no self-preserving koala would want to move down the tree when it sees a bunch of beings with craned necks and contorting bodies, pointing some kind of metallic object at them that goes click click all the time. So not surprisingly, I didn't manage to get a good picture of the koalas.

Final stop: Philip Island

Next stop, Philip Island. As we had time before the penguin parade, our tour guide drove us through a backroad (I think it's called the Nobbies?), where we saw great views of Philip Island's coast. During the drive, the guide pointed out numerous little holes in the ground, which turned out to be burrows dug by the fairy penguins. These were the homes which they would return to after dusk everyday.

Around 5.40pm, we proceeded to the viewing platform for the penguin parade. As we had paid an extra A$10 per person, we were seated at a more exclusive platform which is supposed to provide a better view of the penguins. There was a pleasant seabreeze and I felt very comfy in my jacket. We found a nice spot and were informed by the ranger that the penguins came up from the sea at 6.26pm the evening before.

As the sky began to darken, people became more excited and strained their eyes to see if they could spot the first penguin of the day. At about 6.30pm, I saw the sea spit up a little white and black figure onto the sand. As the fairy penguin is very small (about 33cm tall), I couldn't see it clearly from our platform. I vaguely saw the little fella shaking itself dry and then diving back into the sea. Suddenly, we saw another penguin. This one was waddling up the beach and heading in the direction of our platform. When it neared us, it paused and stared before scampering up the hill.

Slowly more penguins came onto the beach and stood there shaking themselves dry. The biggest group had about 18 penguins. Some of the penguins were in a huge hurry to return to their burrows, while others just waddled past us in a leisurely fashion.

After a while, J and I decided to follow a group of about 10 penguins up the walkway. We walked side by side with the penguins, with a distance of about 5-6 feet between us. The air was thick with hucking sounds, made by the returning penguins and their happy partners.

We were not allowed to take pictures as penguins' eyes are sensitive to light, so I ended up buying 2 postcards from the gift shop.

I also bought two plush toys at the gift shop. The bigger one, which I have named Pengi (don't ask me why), makes a very realistic cry when its belly is pressed.

After that eye-opening experience, we went to Cowes, where we had a scrumptious dinner of fish & chips, burger, potato wedges and hot chocolate. We left Philip Island around 9pm for our 1.5hr journey back to Melbourne. During the drive back, the guide played an old movie, The Man from Snowy River. This raised a few sceptical eyebrows at first because it's a very old movie (early 1980s), but J and I found it oddly compelling.

Back in Melbourne

We finally arrived back in Melbourne around 11pm. The guide had to send some of the tourists back to their hotels and it was 11.30pm by the time we got off the bus. We took the tram and got home around 12 midnight. Although we were both really tired, it was truly a memorable and enjoyable day.

First visit to the gym

Today marks my first visit to the College Square gym (may there be many more). The gym is not bad; it's pretty big and has a wide variety of weights, equipment and exercise charts. It was fairly empty too. I felt rather self-conscious in my over-sized YMCA t-shirt (given foc when I moved in), but it was too late to change.

After some warming up, I went to the treadmill and with an air of confidence, keyed in 5.5km/h. After a few load groans, the treadmill started moving. That was when I realised that it was much too fast and sheepishly adjusted it to a more comfortable speed of 3.9km/h. After the treadmill, I went around looking for dumbbells (the non-human kind) and finally spotted two lying on an exercise machine. One lift was enough to make me drop the dumbbells hastily back onto the machine. It was then that I noticed one of the female gym-users looking at me with an odd expression on her face. It dawned on me that she had been using these weights and had just set them down for a while.

Trying to ignore the lady and the idea that my palms are probably covered in her sweat, I finally managed to locate more dumbbells. I selected the lightest one (1.5kg) and proceeded to do a grand total of three lifts for each arm. I can only imagine what a pathetic and wimpy picture I must have made.

Peter Rabbit with YPR @ Yellow Primrose

Cute!

A hotspot for birds?

J put some bread out on the balcony ledge today to see if any birds would come. I was very excited (what is it with women and animals?) and kept hovering around the balcony in anticipation. I was going on and on about no birds coming and about how the experiment was a failure (in other words, making a perfect nuisance of myself), when J finally couldn't stand it anymore and burst out in exasperation: "aiyo! ji2 bai3 nian2 dou1 mei2 you3 mian4 bao1 chu1 xian4 guo4, xian4 zai4 chu1 xian4, how do u expect the birds to know!" (translation: "aiyo! There has been no bread there for a few centuries, now that there is, how do u expect the birds to know!").

Strong winds

One of the things that I noticed about Melbourne is her strong winds. I'm not sure how anyone living here would be able to wear a skirt out (except for the tight-fitting type of course). The wind is so strong that the the blinds in the apartment are rattling despite the closed windows. My kitchen is also making rumbling noises because of the wind. I feel just like one of the three little pigs, whose house is in danger of collapse from the huffs and puffs of the big bad wolf.

Late bloomer

One of the flowers in the bouquet bloomed.

Before

After

Yakinikudon

J was preparing dinner when I returned to the apartment after class. He was very mysterious about the whole affair and shooed me out of the kitchen. I later found out that he was preparing yakinikudon. Don't be fooled by the picture, it was actually quite tasty.

Surprise surprise!

A nice present from J.

Ten tulips for A$12

I bought tulips today. We had to put the tulips in a soy milk carton because we have no vase.